Barker and Stonehouse £3 million investment in Knaresborough

ONE of the biggest UK furniture retailers, North Yorkshire based family owned firm, Barker and Stonehouse, has announced plans for a new store in Knaresborough which will boast some of the best green credentials in the UK.

Leading independent retailer Barker and Stonehouse has received the go-ahead for plans to relocate from its current site on the St James Retail Park in Knaresborough to a new 35,000 sq ft store located at the entrance to the same retail park, formerly home to an Audi dealership.

The move marks an investment of £3 million from the retailer and will create a flagship store for the firm on one of Knaresborough’s most highly visible and prestigious retail locations.

The new store will be one of the UK’s greenest retail spaces with a BREEAM (an established and respected tool used to measure the sustainability of new non-domestic buildings in the UK) rating of ‘very good’.

Sustainable features include a ‘green’ roof which provides bio-diversity and the creation of natural habitats, natural ventilation, low energy heating, an innovative heat recovery system and a unique lighting system specially designed by the company. This unique lighting system has already been introduced into the retailer’s other stores saving up to 60% on annual fuel bills.

Managing director James Barker said:

Investing so much time and effort in the new store is a display of our commitment to Knaresborough and our customers. We are always striving to improve and invest in the latest innovations – the new Knaresborough store is an example of this and will result in an improved customer experience.

Customers told us they wanted more responsible retailing and we’ve invested heavily to meet this demand. We’ve worked with The Carbon Trust to significantly reduce our carbon footprint in the new store and across all our stores and operations.

Knaresborough Council and Harrogate and District Council have been outstanding in helping us achieve our goals for this great new store. Their attitude has been really positive.

Work on site is due to start later this year with an expected completion date of Summer 2012.

One thought on “Barker and Stonehouse £3 million investment in Knaresborough”

I quite like the shop, but the problem is that it’s rather expensive for the kind of shop that it is. It’s good that it is a local based business though, and for that reason I’d like to support it and see it do well. Taking over the old Audi building is good, because it looks rather sad being empty at the moment. Hopefully another retailer of interest will take on the existing B&S store.

I think part of the problem of the St James Retail Park is that it’s not at that critical mass size for it to be so successful. To have a reason to drive there from Harrogate centre, it really needs a few more larger shops there. If it became more Monk’s Cross size it would be more successful.